How does the greenhouse effect affect flooding?

Answer 1

well, as it gets warmer (because of global warming) icebergs are melting quicker than ever before. I mean, really fast. and guess what? ice is just frozen water. so when you unfreeze it--it becomes liquid again. So the more icebergs that melt because of the outrageous amount of CO2, the more water is released. and after a little while, all that water will start raising the sea level. and as the water gets higher, the land won't be able to keep up. Land doesn't even grow, it just builds up over the years....unless you count the things that are growing on it.

I am 75% sure about this. You might want to research it a bit more if you want to be 100%.

Answer 2

Heat is a form of energy. The warmer the atmosphere and oceans are, the more energy there is for driving storms. Big waves are associated with coastal flooding. Also, as Greenland glaciers and the south polar ice cap sloughs into the sea, the ocean levels will rise, also contributing to coastal flooding.

Answer 3

As earth's temperature increases, glacial ice recedes. This is not a particular big concern in most areas. The north polar cap is already over water, its melting would increase the ocean depth (through thermal expansion) only slightly. The big problems are the Antarctic and Greenland ice. 80% of earth's glacial ice is in Antarctica, and 20% is over Greenland. Melting the Greenland ice would raise earth's oceans 20 feet, flooding many coastal areas. Much of Florida is barely 20 feet above sea level, for example. Bangladesh is one low lying country that would suffer greatly with such a rise in sea level. Much of the agricultural lands in the Netherlands are actually below sea level, protected by long series of dikes. These would not likely survive storm surges.

Coastal areas and river deltas would be the areas most likely to flood from higher sea levels. However, precipitation patterns would also likely change, causing flooding in some areas unused to higher levels, and desertification in other areas. Climate change is a serious consequence of man's appetite for fossil carbon.